Archives for Boob Tube to Big Screen

– The fact that Neil Patrick Harris is hosting this year’s Tony Awards (Sunday, CBS, 8PM ET) makes it the first Tonys show I’ve had any interest in watching, and the “Top 10 Signs You’ve Hired a Bad Tony Awards Host” list that NPH delivered on Late Show with David Letterman last night made me that much more excited to see how the How I Met Your Mother star can liven up the event. The list, BTW, was one of the best recent Top 10s, particularly the cheeky nods to the Eminem/Bruno brouhaha and the Jeremy Piven Broadway scandal.

– Kung Fu star David Carradine‘s death may have taken a turn from sad to sad and creepy.

– Were the Dawson’s Creek kids really “four monstrous actors” once they got crazy famous on the show? A DC showrunner says so.

– If you haven’t read producer Josh Friedman‘s blog post about the end of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, check it out now. It’s hilarious, and sad, and is a reminder of how, no matter how much a fan base may love a show, it always comes down to business.

– Guess who’ll be back on the island – or somewhere in the Lost universe – for the sixth and final season? Aaron’s mama Claire.

– And an article in Newsweek about how reality TV makes women look stupid makes some interesting points, though I’d suggest the author watch a couple of episodes of The Hills. From Spencer Pratt to JustinBobby, and almost every other dude in between, these aren’t exactly flattering portraits of the American male, either. Not to mention JonGosselin, at least half the male Real World-ers, Danny Bonaduce, Flavor Flav, Survivor‘s “Johnny Fairplay” …

– VH1’s upcoming miniseries The Great Debate is sorta like Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil in reverse. Instead of debating which of two pop culture ideas is the worst, The Great Debate will feature talking heads like Omarosa, Jerry Springer and TilaTequila debating which is better – Star Wars or Star Trek, Rocky or Rambo, Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune … you get the idea. The week-long series kicks off on July 6, and fans can weigh in now by voting on such topics as “Funny or Not?” (including Adam Sandler, Dane Cook and Kathy Griffin), “Sibling Rivalry” (Kevin or Matt Dillon? Owen or Luke Wilson? Paris or Nicky Hilton?) and “Hot or Not?” (including Michael Phelps, Fergie and Zach Braff). Sounds like a fun summer series, though you have to wonder, weren’t any of the Best Week Ever peeps available? Omarosa and Tila Tequila aren’t exactly, to play off the title, the great debaters.

– So you wanna be a star? Auditions for American Idol, season nine, kick off in Boston on June 14.

– The ratings are in, and the season premiere wasn’t a fluke. Plenty of people are still rubberneckin’ at the trainwreck that is Jon & Kate Plus 8. More Gosselin news: US Weekly is featuring the fam on its cover for a sixth consecutive week. Almost makes you nostalgic for the days when Britney was doing something crazy every week, huh?

– Claire (Hayden Panettiere) is getting a college roommate on Heroes next season, and she’s being played by Californication‘s Madeline Zima.

He may be a comedy A-lister, but on Tuesday’s episode of Discovery Channel’s Man vs. Wild (10PM ET), Land of the Lost star Will Ferrell feasts on a dinner of reindeer eyeballs and his own urine.

Host Bear Grylls and Ferrell parachute off a helicopter and into the Swedish hinterland, where they’ll rappel down a hundred-foot frozen waterfall, get crafty by fashioning their own snow shoes out of twigs and, yes, drink their own urine.

CBS may want to keep Ferrell in mind if they ever get that all-star version of Survivor off the ground …

Don’t call it a remake. Don’t call it a sequel or a prequel (especially since Buffy papa Joss Whedon isn’t involved). Instead, like J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek, the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer big-screen movie will be a reboot of the franchise, one that could lead to a series of movies and maybe even a new TV series.

But, who’ll fill Sarah Michelle Gellar (and to a lesser extent, original Buffy movie star KristySwanson‘s) shoes? The Hollywood Reporter throws out Megan Fox, Kristen Stewart, JessicaStroup, Amanda Seyfried and Teresa Palmer as candidates, but if I were the Buffy producers, I’d take a look at seasons one and two of Chuck on DVD …

Yvonne Strahovski, as tough spy chick Sarah Walker, is the best TV action heroine since JenniferGarner left the tube in Alias. In fact, Chuck premiered on NBC during the same season as the network’s ill-cast Bionic Woman remake, and I think if Strahovski had been the titular star of that show, it would have been a runaway hit.

As Chuck devotees, particularly the male ones, will tell you, Strahovski is one of those rare actresses who can serve up a side of vulnerability with her kick-assedness, which is an endearing quality and a key to playing the often emotionally tortured Buffy.

So Buffy fans, let’s hear it: Who should be cast as Buffy 3.0? Megan Fox? Big Love star Seyfried? Twilight‘s Stewart? Or do you agree that Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski should stake (pun totally intended) a claim to the role?

– The Sunday New York Times magazine has a great profile of Conan O’Brien, as he prepares to begin his stint as the new host of The Tonight Show. And yes, he too was surprised that Leno‘s getting that nightly 10PM timeslot.

– Even reality TV stars are haggling for more money. The New York Post reports that the Real Housewives of New York City want more than the $50,000 per episode they received for season two (up from $5,000 per ep for season one). Whaddaya think? Are they worth it?

– Wanna keep up with all those celebrities are Tweeting about? E! will begin running a crawl of celebrities’ Twitter postings at the bottom of the screen during its programming.

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Charlie Sheen, Russell Brand and Louis C.K. are getting most of the attention, but I’m most excited that one of the best new shows of last TV season — Wilfred — returns for its second season on FX tonight (10PM ET). Season one of the series ended with a cliffhanger — had Ryan (Elijah Wood) […]